Hopes of early deal on mortgage regulation fade

New rules to regulate the mortgage industry look set to be delayed as MEPs attempt to make numerous of changes to the European Commission’s proposal for legislation.

Members of the European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee were initially expected to hold a vote on their position in January, but that was postponed until its next meeting, on 28 February. Now the vote has again been put back – possibly as far as the committee’s meeting on 25-26 April.

EU officials say that the large number of amendments put forward by MEPs on what was a relatively short Commission proposal has meant that discussions between Antolín Sánchez Presedo, a Spanish socialist MEP who is leading the Parliament’s work on the issue, and his counterparts in other political groups have taken longer than expected.

Ability to lend

Some of the disagreements in the Parliament are about the balance between imposing regulation on the industry and ensuring that institutions retain the ability to lend.

Similar divergences persist between member states. Officials from Denmark, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers, have tried to broker agreement by presenting a compromise text, but no deal has been struck.

The delays mean that hopes of reaching an agreement between the Parliament and Council by the summer, which was the initial target, are receding.